As Me109s from 3./JG77 and Me110s from ZG76 provide aerial cover, the pride of the Kriegsmarine - the battleships Bismarck - together with the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, destroyers Z10 Hans Lody and Z16 Friedrich Eckholdt, and a support escort fleet break out from Norwegian waters into the open sea on the evening of 21st May 1941. Heading for the rich pickings of the North Atlantic convoy routes, her ill-fated voyage would last only a few days. After a shattering victory over HMS Hood, Bismarck was caught and sunk by the Royal Navy Home Fleet a few days later on 27th May 1941. There were just 115 survivors from her complement of over 2000 men.

On the morning of 11th March 1943, Fw190s from IV./JG5 took off from their base to escort the mighty battleship Tirpitz and a screening fleet of escort destroyers and torpedo boats, at the start of a voyage north to Bogen Bay during Operation Rostock. Designed to escape the increasingly frequent British bombing raids, Tirpitz would leave southern Norway to join an impressive German naval battle fleet gathering near Narvik, one of the largest German naval bases in Norway. Together with the Scharnhorst, the heavy cruiser Lutzow, and the light cruiser Nurnberg, they would pose a grave threat to the Arctic convoys. After repeated attempts to sink her, Tirpitz was eventually destroyed by the RAF at her anchorage in Altenfjord, 12th November 1944.

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Signatures on this item

*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.

Karl-Fritz Schlossstein initially flew Me110 heavy destroyers with JG5, when th Group first arrived in Norway in 1942 to provide air cover for the convoys supplying the rapidly increasing German garrison in that country. He commanded 13(Z)/JG5 from the summer of 1942 to June 1943, and then converted to fly Me109s. Later in Norway he flew the Me410 Hornet with ZG76, but finished the war with JG54 Greenhearts flying Fw190s in the Defence of the Reich. He died on 18th July 2017.

Signatures on item 2

*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.

Joining the Kriegsmarine in 1942, Willi Völsing was Senior Controller in the Gunnery Fire Control Section on Tirpitz, one of the most important gunnery positions on the ship, passing vital information between the ship's guns and the ship's commanders. After the Tirpitz capsized, he was one of the few fortunate survivors to be released from deep inside the ship by rescuers cutting into the upturned hull.

After serving with the Air Signals Corps during the Blitzkrieg through the Low Countries and France, Kurt Schulze then flew as a Me110 Wireless Operator over southern Russia, before returning to the west. Here he flew night missions against England in Do217s with I./KG2. In September 1943 he transferred to train as a fighter pilot, and flew 65 missions in Me109s with III./JG5 on the Arctic Front, scoring three victories. In November 1944 he flew in the ill-fated defence of the German battleship Tirpitz. In March 1945 he commanded I./JG51 in the encircled east German city of Danzig, before returning to Norway in May 1945 to command 16./JG5.